Emergency Medical Services

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Basics

• Summary
• Latest News

Learn More

• Related Issues

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Research

• Statistics and Research
• Clinical Trials
• Journal Articles

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For You

• Children
• Seniors
• Patient Handouts

Summary

If you get very sick or badly hurt and need help right away, you should use emergency medical services. These services use specially trained people and specially equipped facilities.

You may need care in the hospital emergency room (ER). Doctors and nurses there treat emergencies, such as heart attacks and injuries. For some emergencies, you need help where you are. Emergency medical technicians, or EMTs, do specific rescue jobs. They answer emergency calls and give basic medical care. Some EMTs are paramedics - they have training to do medical procedures on site. They usually take you to the ER for more care.

If you or someone you know needs emergency care, go to your hospital's emergency room. If you think the problem is life threatening, call 9-1-1.

Latest News

• Too Few Children Get EpiPen When Needed: Study (07/12/2017, HealthDay)
• Overcharging Common in U.S. Emergency Rooms (06/02/2017, HealthDay)
• ERs May Need to Rethink Opioid Prescription Practices (05/19/2017, HealthDay)

Related Issues

• Rural Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and Trauma (Rural Health Information Hub)

Statistics and Research

• Costs of Emergency Care (American College of Emergency Physicians)
• Emergency Department Visits by Persons Aged 65 and Over: United States, 2009-2010 (National Center for Health Statistics)
• Wait Time for Treatment in Hospital Emergency Departments: 2009 (National Center for Health Statistics)

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Emergency Medical Services (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: Acute decompensated heart failure in the emergency department: Identification of...
• Article: Dental-Related Use of Hospital Emergency Departments by Hispanics and Non-Hispanics...
• Article: Outcomes after observation stays among older adult Medicare beneficiaries in...
• Emergency Medical Services -- see more articles

Find an Expert

• American College of Emergency Physicians
• American Red Cross Also in Spanish

Children

• Childhood Emergencies (American College of Emergency Physicians)
• Children with Special Health Care Needs (American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Emergency Physicians) - PDF
• Teaching Your Child How to Use 911 (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
• What Happens in the Emergency Room? (Nemours Foundation)
• What You Need to Know in an Emergency (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
• When It's Just You in an Emergency (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish

Seniors

• Top 10 Tips for Taking an Elderly Parent to the Emergency Department (American College of Emergency Physicians)

Patient Handouts

• When to use the emergency room - adult (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• When to use the emergency room - child (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish